Roof



UiviTED sTATEs EATENT oEEicE.

CHARLES A. STATLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

EooE.

specification of Letters Patent.

rai-.enten Ap1.27, 1920.

Original application led March 29, 1918, Serial No. 225,403. Divided and this application led April 5, 1919. Serial No. 287,730.

To ZZ ywhom t may conce/rn Be it known that I, CHARLEs A; STATLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Roofs, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

Hy invention relates to improvements in roofs, and has special reference to improvements in the construction of roof gutters.

In the covering of roofs with exible inaterial made of` a base material such as jute impregnated with asphaltuni and Covered with grit, it has been common practice heretofore to form the gutter of the roof of metal, with [iashings running up beneath the lower edge of the flexible roofing material on the roof. This form of construction requires the presence on the job of the sheet metal worker as well as the roofers and the construction is expensive.. .In the first place, it is the part of the roof which deteriorates most rapidly, and is the first to need repair.

I have conceived the idea of forming the gutter, as well. as the roof proper, of the flexible roofing material, of forming it in such a manner that but slight additional expense is necessary to form the 'foundation for the gutter, land in suoli construct-ion to carry out and preserve the idea of fully covering and protecting all nails and fasteners by the durable, flexible roofing material, which idea was first disclosed in my copending application on. roofs, filed March 29, i918, Serial Number 225,403", and of which this present application is a division.

By means of my invention I am enabled to eliminate all sheet metal work about roofs, except possibly the down spout; Iam enabled to provide a gutter whichis just as durable as the roof itself, which does not require frequent painting or renewal and which in fact once installed, is substantially permanent.

' I am enabled to produce a gutter with much less expenditure, of time, labor and material, in otherwords, I am enabled to produce a gutter which is more durable and less expensive than the metallic gutters heretofore used. Furthermore, by means of my invention, I am enabled to produce a gutter which is so arranged that it catches andv drains away all of the water which falls upon theroof, as my gutter is arranged at the extreme lower edge thereof. At the same time the finished roof is much more sightly and durable than those equippedwith hanging gutters. Y

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to said drawings, in

which Fig. l is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing lamodifed form ofvconstruction; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the material which I preferably use in forming my improved gutter.

VMy present invention is related closely to a roof construction wherein the roof proper is covered with horizontally extending strips l, of flexible roofing material iliade up `of flexible webbing impregnated and covered with asphaltum and preferably covered on its weather surface with colored grit or sand embedded in the asphaltum, and by means of which the roofing sheets are given any color desired, and is particularly adapted to simulate a tile roof.

The sheets or strips 1 are secured to and upon the roof, withtheir adjacent horizontal edges in overlapping sealed relation, and my present invention has to do particularly with the lower or gutter edge of the roof thus formed. f

In making the roof proper, I preferably provide a roof edge or facing board 2 arranged vertically at the lower edge of the roof, and suitably fastened to the lower edge of the roofing boards.

I arrange this facing board longitudinally along the edge of the roof and with its upper edge projecting above the adjacent surface of the roof, so as to provide a triangular space 3 between the board and theV adjacent lower part of the roof. It will now be evident that if I line this triangular space so as to make it water tight, I will have a gutter to drain the water from the roof, and that I will be ableto catch all the water that falls upon the roof.

For forming the water tight lining for sheet 4 being i this space, and thus providing a gutter, I take a strip 4 of the flexible roofing material, and I secure one longitudinal edge of` the strip upon the upper part of the facing` board 2. I secure it to the facing board by means of a clamping strip, rod or bar 5, which may have the form of a round rod as shown, to permit the sheet 4 to be formed around saine, and reduce the liability of the sheet to crack or fracture in this process. I secure thisclamping bar and the edge of the sheet 4 by nails 6'V which I drive down through `the rod and the edge ofthe sheet and into the upper edge of the facing board 2. Inv placing the sheet, to be thus fastened at its outer edge, I arrange it in the position shown in Fig. 3, with its grit or Weather surface 7 on the inside or toward the board 2.

Having secured the edge of the strip, as shown in Fig. 3, IV turn the whole strip over and upon the roof and form it down into the `gutter space to form a gutter 8, as shown in Fig. 2, the free edges of the sheet extending up upon vthe roof 9. In thus turning the sheetzover I cover the rod 4 and the nails 6 with the .flexible roofing sheet, thus effectually sealing these parts against deterioration by the weather. The LleXible, it can very'readily be formed down intoV the triangular space, and I preferably do this by means of a forming member similar to a narrow board' which I place within the turned down oi' turned over sheet and by standing Vupon the board press the sheet down closely into the triangular space against the outer board 2 and against the surface of the roof. T he sheet 4 lies fiat upon the upper 4surface of the roof and forms the lower part of the roof covering, the lower edge of the first roofing strip 1 being secured upon the roof at the upper edge of the strip 4 in overlapped relation thereto, and preferably clamped thereto by means of a clamping rod or member 10, and nails 11, as shown in l Fig. 2.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a modified form of the gutter. In thisv form I secure the first edge of the gutter rsheet 4 to the outer surface of the board 2 instead of to its top edge, by means of a Wooden strip 12 and nails 18 and then I turn the sheet 4 over as in the first instance, to form the gutter.` In this forni also the clamping strip 12 and the nails 13 which secure the first edge of the sheet are covered and protected from the weather.

The gutter thus formed at the lower edge vof the roof drains into the down spout 13,

generally arranged as shown at one corner of the building.

" As shown in 5 I preferablyV use a roofing material, which consists of a base or foundation of Wool felt, or Vsome similar -`v fibrous material 14. This base isimpreg- Yiiated with a water proofing material such as 'asphaltuim and the lower surface may be covered with a 'paper sheet 15, to prevent the strip of roofing material sticking "together when rolled u pV for shipping. The

top or -weather surface is usually provided with a layer 16 of asphaltum in yvhiclris y embedded and secureda coating or covering 1T, of grit or sand. This grit coating may be made of any color to suit the conditions, and it may be of the saine color as the strips 1, although I frequentlyT make itpof a suitable contrasting color. Y'

It will nowl be evident that by means of my invention I aniV enabled to form a gutter of the same flexible material of which the roof itself is formed, thatI am enabled to forni the gutter in place quickly and easily and at low cost, andthat by means of my invention I .am'enabled to cover and protert all of the` fasteners and fastening ydevices from the weather by means of the sub"v ico ber, whereby the'asphaltum coatingfeffects a weather tight, seal Vbetween the sheet' 'and the upstanding'rmember, the body of said sheet formed over the vclamping stripfand down into the gutter space, and the opposite edge of the vsheetextending up on the roof and sealedthereto. Y

2. Ina roof of the character described,'an upstanding member at the lower edge of the roof providing a gutter space, sheetV of flexible roofing material having a weather surface composed mainly ofl asphaltum or the like and having grit thereon, one edge of the sheet secured to the upper Vfedgeof the upstanding member with its `weather surface in contact therewith, a clamping strip tightly securing the edge of the roofing sheet to the upper edge of the upstanding member, the asphaltumror the like being sufficient to effect a tightly'sealed joint between the roofing sheet and the upstanding member, the body of theroofing sheet being turned `over the clamping strip and formed down into the gutter space, the clamping strip presenting a smooth grounded' surface iylithout projecting edges to the roofing seet.

l In witness whereofI hereunto subscribe 

